Information processing apparatus capable of creating communication application, computer-readable non-transitory recording medium with application creating program for creating communication application stored thereon, and programing tool

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus includes a tool storage section, an acquisition method acceptance section, a template specification acceptance section, and an application creating section. The tool storage section stores a programing tool having a function of acquiring print data from an advertisement delivery server and a function of managing the print data. The acquisition method acceptance section is configured to accept setting of a data acquisition method for acquiring the print data. The template specification acceptance section is configured to accept specification of a template for use in printing the print data. The application creating section is configured to use the programing tool to create a communication application allowing acquisition of the print data according to the accepted data acquisition method and generation of an image according to the accepted template.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2014-182662 filed on Sep. 8, 2014, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatuscapable of creating a communication application, a computer-readablenon-transitory recording medium with an application creating program forcreating a communication application stored thereon, and a programingtool.

Currently, various techniques are being proposed in which image formingapparatuses placed in public facilities or the like previously receiveprint data from a print data providing device, such as a server on anetwork, and, upon users' operation of copying or the like on the imageforming apparatuses, print an advertisement image indicated by the printdata on printed materials, for example, on the back sides thereof. Forexample, a system is being proposed in which a multifunction peripheralreceives advertisement data in PDL format from an advertisement deliveryserver, converts the advertisement data into bitmap format, and thenprints a bitmap advertisement image on the back side of a printedmaterial.

Meanwhile, in order to add functions to information processingapparatuses and client terminals, various applications installable onsuch equipment have been developed. A technique is also being proposedfor facilitating the development of new applications. Furthermore, SDKs(software development kits) are being provided to applicationdevelopers. The developers create new applications by adding a newfunction using such a provided SDK.

SUMMARY

A technique improved over the aforementioned techniques is proposed asone aspect of the present disclosure.

An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of thepresent disclosure is configured to create a communication applicationcapable of allowing a client terminal to acquire print data from a printdata providing device and allowing the client terminal to manage theacquired print data.

The information processing apparatus includes a tool storage section, anacquisition method acceptance section, a template specificationacceptance section, and an application creating section.

The tool storage section stores a predetermined programing tool having afunction of communication with the print data providing device and afunction of management of the print data acquired from the print dataproviding device.

The acquisition method acceptance section is configured to acceptsetting of a data acquisition method for acquiring the print data fromthe print data providing device.

The template specification acceptance section holds a plurality oftemplates indicating different layouts for the print data and isconfigured to accept specification of a template for use in printing theprint data from among the plurality of templates.

The application creating section is configured to use the programingtool stored in the tool storage section to create the communicationapplication allowing acquisition of the print data from the print dataproviding device according to the accepted data acquisition method andgeneration of an image using the print data according to the templateaccepted by the template specification acceptance section.

A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium according to anotheraspect of the present disclosure stores an application creating programcapable of creating a communication application.

The application creating program is configured to create thecommunication application capable of allowing a client terminal toacquire print data from a print data providing device and allowing theclient terminal to manage the acquired print data.

The application creating program is further configured to allow acomputer to operate as the tool storage section, the acquisition methodacceptance section, the template specification acceptance section, andthe application creating section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing how an information processingapparatus and an image forming apparatus are connected via the Internetto an advertisement delivery server on the Web.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of theinformation processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating examples of templates.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing for creating a communicationapplication by the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a screen displayed on a display.

FIG. 6 shows an example of another screen displayed on the display.

FIG. 7 shows an example of still another screen displayed on thedisplay.

FIG. 8 shows an example of still another screen displayed on thedisplay.

FIG. 9 shows an example of still another screen displayed on thedisplay.

FIG. 10 shows an example of still another screen displayed on thedisplay.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of theimage forming apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing for data communication anddata management performed by the image forming apparatus based on thecommunication application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, a description will be given of an application creatingprogram, a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium with theapplication creating program stored thereon, an information processingapparatus, and a programing tool, all according to one embodiment as oneaspect of the present disclosure, with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing how an information processingapparatus and an image forming apparatus are connected via the Internetto an advertisement delivery server on the Web.

An information processing apparatus 1, an image forming apparatus 2, andan advertisement delivery server 3 are connected via the Internet.

The information processing apparatus 1 is configured to create acommunication application according to an application creating program(to be described hereinafter in detail) installed thereon. Thiscommunication application allows data communication to be performedbetween the image forming apparatus 2 and the advertisement deliveryserver 3 and allows the image forming apparatus 2 to manageadvertisement data (i.e., print data of an advertisement imageindicating the contents of an advertisement) received from theadvertisement delivery server 3.

The image forming apparatus (an example of a client terminal in claims2, when the communication application is installed thereon, connects tothe advertisement delivery server 3 according to this communicationapplication, receives advertisement data from the advertisement deliveryserver 3, and manages the received advertisement data.

The advertisement delivery server (an example of a print data providingdevice in claims 3 is a server for providing an advertisement datadelivery service on the Web. The advertisement delivery server 3 holds,on an internal HDD or the like, advertisement data formed of anadvertisement image indicating the contents of an advertisement. Theadvertisement delivery server 3 is configured to send the advertisementdata via the Internet in response to a request from the image formingapparatus 2 or by itself to the image forming apparatus 2 atpredetermined time intervals.

Next, a description will be given of an electrical configuration of theinformation processing apparatus 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showingthe electrical configuration of the information processing apparatus 1.FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating examples of templates. The informationprocessing apparatus 1 includes a control section 10, a communicationsection 11, a storage section 12, an operating section 13, a display 14,and an external memory interface 15.

The communication section 11 is an interface for performing processingfor communication with the image forming apparatus 2 and so on via theInternet.

The storage section 12 is formed of an HDD (hard disk drive) or thelike, on which an application creating program according to the oneembodiment can be installed.

The operating section 13 is formed of, for example, a mouse pointer anda keyboard, and configured to accept entry of various operatinginstructions from an operator.

The display 14 is formed of an LCD (liquid crystal display) or the likeand configured to display various images under the control of a displaycontrol section 101.

The external memory interface 15 can be connected to an external memory(an example of a print data providing device in Claims), such as a USBmemory, so that the external memory can read data through the externalmemory interface 15 from the information processing apparatus 1.

The control section 10 is composed of a CPU (central processing unit), aRAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and so on and governs theoverall operation of the information processing apparatus 1. The controlsection 10 includes a display control section 101, a tool storagesection 106, an acquisition method acceptance section 102, a templatespecification acceptance section 103, a timing specification acceptancesection 104, and an application creating section 105. The storagesection 12 holds the application creating program according to the oneembodiment of the present disclosure. The control section 10 operatesaccording to the application creating program to function as the displaycontrol section 101, the tool storage section 106, the acquisitionmethod acceptance section 102, the template specification acceptancesection 103, the timing specification acceptance section 104, and theapplication creating section 105, which perform necessary processingsteps for creating an application described below in this embodiment.The control section 10 may not operate according to the applicationcreating program, but alternatively may include as hardware circuits thedisplay control section 101, the tool storage section 106, theacquisition method acceptance section 102, the template specificationacceptance section 103, the timing specification acceptance section 104,and the application creating section 105.

The display control section 101 is configured to control a displayoperation of the display 14. For example, during processing for creatinga communication application based on the application creating program,the display control section 101 allows the display 14 to display, as auser interface, various operating screens to be described hereinafter.

The acquisition method acceptance section 102 is configured to acceptsetting of a data acquisition method in receiving advertisement datafrom the advertisement delivery server 3 and an external memory device.The image forming apparatus 2 connects to the advertisement deliveryserver 3 according to the communication application and receivesadvertisement data from the advertisement delivery server 3 by thespecified advertisement data acquisition method.

For example, the acquisition method acceptance section 102 acceptsoperator's specification of either one of the following advertisementdata acquisition methods: (A) a method in which the image formingapparatus 2 receives advertisement data sent from the advertisementdelivery server 3 at predetermined times or advertisement data read froman external memory such as a USB memory; and (B) a method in which theimage forming apparatus 2 accesses the advertisement delivery server 3at predetermined times to acquire advertisement data from theadvertisement delivery server 3.

As for the method (A), the acquisition method acceptance section 102further accepts operator's specification of one of (1) an HTTP or HTTPSPOST request, (2) a SOAP request, and (3) readout from a USB memory.

In specifying (1) an HTTP or HTTPS POST request described above (forexample, sending of multipart/form-data), the operator enters, forexample, the following items through the operating section 13. Theentered items are accepted by the acquisition method acceptance section102.

(11) the path of a URL (for example, ***** of the following URLhttp://000.000.0.1/*****);

(12) the property name of an advertisement ID (such as image-id);

(13) the property name of a validity period (such as begin-date andend-date);

(14) the format of date and time (such as yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss); and

(15) the property name of an advertisement template (such asad-template).

In this case, the advertisement delivery server 3 sends to the imageforming apparatus 2, in addition to the advertisement data, pieces ofaccompanying information including the advertisement ID and the validityperiod, which are formed of a property name or a format as describedabove, in the form of multipart/form data of HTTP or HTTPS. Whenreceiving the advertisement data and the above pieces of accompanyinginformation, the image forming apparatus 2 stores the receivedadvertisement data and pieces of accompanying information on theinternal HDD 92.

In specifying (2) a SOAP request described above, the operator enters,for example, the following items through the operating section 13. Theentered items are accepted by the acquisition method acceptance section102.

(21) the path of a URL (for example, ***** of the following URLhttp://000.000.0.1/*****);

(22) namespace;

(23) the property name indicating one advertisement (such as ad-image);

(24) the property name of advertisement data (such as data);

(25) the property parameter name of an advertisement ID (such asimage-id);

(26) the property parameter name of a validity period (such asbegin-date and end-date);

(27) the format of date and time (such as yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss); and

(28) the property name of an advertisement template (such asad-template).

In the SOAP communication, the advertisement delivery server 3 sendsadvertisement data and pieces of accompanying information including anadvertisement ID and a validity period to the image forming apparatus 2.When receiving the advertisement data and the above pieces ofaccompanying information, the image forming apparatus 2 stores thereceived advertisement data and pieces of accompanying information onthe internal HDD 92.

At this time, the image forming apparatus 2 receives data in XML format,for example, data as shown below:

<ad-image> <data>(advertisement data)</data> <image-id>0001</image-id><begin-date>2013/11/20 0:0:0</begin-date> <end-date>2013/11/3023:59:59</end-date> <ad-template>A</ad-template> <option>advertisementabout AAA</option> </ad-image>

In specifying (3) readout from a USB memory described above, there is noparticular item to be set by the operator. In this case, whenadvertisement data is stored in the USB memory, the advertisement ID isalso stored as a file name thereof. When the USB memory containing theadvertisement data stored therein is connected to a network interfacesection 91 of the image forming apparatus 2, a data acquisition section(to be described hereinafter) of the image forming apparatus 2 reads outthe advertisement data in the USB memory and stores the readadvertisement data on the HDD 92.

On the other hand, in the method (B), the operator enters, for example,the items listed below through the operating section 13. The entereditems are accepted by the acquisition method acceptance section 102. Theimage forming apparatus 2 accesses the advertisement delivery server 3at predetermined times to acquire advertisement data via a HTTP or HTTPSPOST request from the advertisement delivery server 3.

(31) a URL for acquiring a file list and a request type (such as GET),wherein the URL can be stored as divided into an address and a path,because it is possible that the operator (developer) specifies the pathonly and then the operator enters the address of the advertisementdelivery server 3 in installing a system (at the start of datacommunication and management operations as a result of the installationof the communication application on the image forming apparatus 2, thesame applies hereinafter);

(32) the format of a response;

(33) the property name of a response containing file list information;

(34) the property name of a file ID;

(35) the property name for identifying a file format;

(36) a URL for acquiring file information and a request type (such asGET), wherein the URL can be stored as divided into an address and apath, because it is possible that the operator specifies the path onlyand then enters the address of the advertisement delivery server 3 ininstalling a system;

(37) the attribute of a download URL; and

(38) date and time to acquire advertisement data (such as daily atmidnight).

The image forming apparatus 2 accesses, at every specified date and timeto acquire advertisement data, the advertisement delivery server 3indicated by the URL for acquiring a file list, acquires advertisementdata from the advertisement delivery server 3, and stores the acquiredadvertisement data on the internal HDD 92.

If a validity period is specified, a data management section (to bedescribed hereinafter) of the image forming apparatus 2 containing thecommunication application installed thereon allows the HDD 92 to store,in addition to the advertisement data already stored on the HDD 92, thejust-acquired advertisement data. On the other hand, if no validityperiod is specified, the data management section of the image formingapparatus 2 deletes all the advertisement data already stored on the HDD92 and replaces it with the just-acquired advertisement data.

The template specification acceptance section 103 holds a plurality oftemplates indicating different layouts for print images indicated byadvertisement data and is configured to accept specification of atemplate for use in printing one or more print images from among theplurality of templates based on operator's operation of the operatingsection 13. For example, the template specification acceptance section103 holds a plurality of predetermined templates A, B, C, and D as shownin FIG. 3 and accepts the specification of any one of these templatesbased on operator's (developer's) operation of the operating section 13.

The template specification acceptance section 103 can create a newtemplate using a property name as a template name, a location of animage, and an image size, which have been specified by operator'soperation of the operating section 13, and hold it as a predeterminedtemplate described above.

The timing specification acceptance section 104 is configured to, whenany image for printing is generated and held by the data managementsection 203 described below, accept from the operator the timing togenerate a new image for printing using different advertisement dataalready held and the specified template.

The tool storage section 106 holds a predetermined programing toolhaving the function of communication with the advertisement deliveryserver 3 and the function of management of the received advertisementdata.

This programing tool is incorporated into a communication application tobe created and functions as part of the communication application. Theprograming tool contains a program for allowing the image formingapparatus 2 to connect via a network to the advertisement deliveryserver 3 and perform data communication with the advertisement deliveryserver 3. The programing tool has the function of allowing the imageforming apparatus 2, which is a client terminal, to operate as a datacommunication section and a data management section. The datacommunication section is configured to allow the image forming apparatus2 to perform data communication with the advertisement delivery server3. The data management section is configured to manage advertisementdata acquired by data communication of the data communication section.

The application creating section 105 is configured to create acommunication application by setting, to the programing tool stored inthe tool storage section 106, a data acquisition method accepted by theacquisition method acceptance section 102, a template, accepted by thetemplate specification acceptance section 103, for use in the aboveimage generation, and an applicable timing accepted by the timingspecification acceptance section 104. In other words, the applicationcreating program creates a communication application using theprograming tool as an SDK.

The communication application created by the application creatingsection 105 is sent from the communication section 11 via the Internetto the image forming apparatus 2 or stored through the external memoryinterface 15 into a USB memory and transferred through the USB memory tothe image forming apparatus 2.

Next, a description will be given of processing for creating anapplication performed by the information processing apparatus 1 on whichthe application creating program is installed. FIG. 4 is a flowchartshowing processing for creating a communication application by theinformation processing apparatus 1. FIGS. 5 to 7 are examples of screensdisplayed on the display 14.

When an operator operates the operating section 13 of the informationprocessing apparatus 1 to enter an instruction to create a communicationapplication, the display control section 101 allows the display 14 todisplay a first screen D1 of acquisition method acceptance shown as anexample in FIG. 5 (S1).

The first screen D1 of acquisition method acceptance shows anacquisition method entry field d1 indicating data receipt via an HTTP orHTTPS POST request from the advertisement delivery server 3 (the above(A) (1)), an acquisition method entry field d12 indicating data receiptvia a SOAP request from the advertisement delivery server 3 (the above(A) (2)), an acquisition method entry field d13 indicating readout froma USB memory (the above (A) (3)), and an acquisition method entry fieldd14 indicating data acquisition from the advertisement delivery server 3by access from the image forming apparatus 2 to the advertisementdelivery server 3 (the above (B)).

When during display of the first screen D1 of acquisition methodacceptance the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as theoperating section 13 to point to, among radio buttons for theacquisition method entry fields d11 to d14, a radio button for an entryfield indicating a desired data acquisition method using a cursor andenter an instruction to specify the data acquisition method by leftclick or the like, the data acquisition method indicated by thespecified entry field is accepted by the acquisition method acceptancesection 102 (S2).

When after the entry of the data acquisition method the operatorspecifies a “NEXT” button B1 with the mouse pointer, the display controlsection 101 allows the display 14 to display, specifically for the dataacquisition method accepted in S2, a screen for accepting setting itemson the accepted data acquisition method (S3). Exceptionally, as for thedata acquisition method of readout from a USB memory (the above (A)(3)), there is no further entry item and therefore no further screen isprovided. In other words, in the case of the data acquisition method ofreadout from a USB memory ((A) (3)), processing necessary for specifyingthe data acquisition method ends with the acceptance in S2.

For example, when in S2 the data acquisition method (A) (1), datareceipt via an HTTP or HTTPS POST request from the advertisementdelivery server 3, is accepted, the display control section 101 allowsthe display 14 to display a second screen D2 of acquisition methodacceptance shown as an example in FIG. 6. The second screen D2 ofacquisition method acceptance shows the following setting items on thedata acquisition method (A) (1): an entry field d21 indicating (11) thepath of a URL; an entry field d22 indicating (12) the property name ofan advertisement ID (such as image-id); an entry field d23 indicating(13) the property name of a validity period (such as begin-date andend-date); an entry field d24 indicating (14) the format of date andtime (such as yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss); and an entry field d25 indicating(15) the property name of an advertisement template (such asad-template).

When during display of the second screen D2 of acquisition methodacceptance the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as theoperating section 13 to point the cursor to the individual entry fieldsd21 to d25 using the mouse pointer and enter desired characters ornumerals through the keyboard, the values of the above setting items onthe data acquisition method (A) (1) specified in S2 for thecommunication application to be created are accepted by the acquisitionmethod acceptance section 102 (S4).

For another example, when in S2 the data acquisition method (A) (2),data receipt via a SOAP request from the advertisement delivery server3, is accepted, the display control section 101 allows the display 14 todisplay a third screen D3 of acquisition method acceptance shown as anexample in FIG. 7. The third screen D3 of acquisition method acceptanceshows the following entry fields: an entry field d31 indicating (21) thepath of a URL; an entry field d32 indicating (22) namespace; an entryfield d33 indicating (23) the property name indicating oneadvertisement; an entry field d34 indicating (24) the property name ofadvertisement data; an entry field d35 indicating (25) the propertyparameter name of an advertisement ID; an entry field d36 indicating(26) the property parameter name of a validity period; an entry fieldd37 indicating (27) the format of date and time; and an entry field d38indicating (28) the property name of an advertisement template.

When during display of the third screen D3 of acquisition methodacceptance the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as theoperating section 13 to point the cursor to the individual entry fieldsd31 to d38 using the mouse pointer and enter desired characters ornumerals through the keyboard, the values of the above setting items onthe data acquisition method (A) (2) specified in S2 for thecommunication application to be created are accepted by the acquisitionmethod acceptance section 102 (S4).

For still another example, when in S2 the data acquisition method (B),data acquisition from the advertisement delivery server 3 by access fromthe image forming apparatus 2 to the advertisement delivery server 3, isaccepted, the display control section 101 allows the display 14 todisplay a fourth screen D4 of acquisition method acceptance shown as anexample in FIG. 8. The fourth screen D4 of acquisition method acceptanceshows the following entry fields: an entry field d41 indicating (31) aURL for acquiring a file list and a request type; an entry field d42indicating (32) the format of a response; an entry field d43 indicating(33) the property name of a response containing file list information;an entry field d44 indicating (34) the property name of a file ID; anentry field d45 indicating (35) the property name for identifying a fileformat; an entry field d46 indicating (36) a URL for acquiring fileinformation and a request type; an entry field d47 indicating (37) theattribute of a download URL; and an entry field d48 indicating (38) dateand time to acquire advertisement data.

When during display of the fourth screen D4 of acquisition methodacceptance the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as theoperating section 13 to point the cursor to the individual entry fieldsd41 to d48 using the mouse pointer and enter desired characters ornumerals through the keyboard, the values of the above setting items onthe data acquisition method (B) specified in S2 for the communicationapplication to be created are accepted by the acquisition methodacceptance section 102 (S4).

When the operator completes the entry of the values of the setting itemson any one of the second screen D2 of acquisition method acceptance, thethird screen D3 of acquisition method acceptance, and the forth screenD4 of acquisition method acceptance and then operates the mouse pointerserving as the operating section 13 to specify a “NEXT” button B2, theacceptance of the entered data acquisition method and values of thesetting items are confirmed by the acquisition method acceptance section102.

After the method for acquiring advertisement data is accepted in theabove manner, the display control section 101 allows the display 14 todisplay a template acceptance screen D5 shown as an example in FIG. 9(S5).

This template acceptance screen D5 is a screen on which a plurality oftemplate candidates are displayed as layouts for use in generating animage or images for printing using advertisement data and through whicha desired layout is accepted based on operator's operation of theoperating section 13.

This template acceptance screen D5, as shown in FIG. 9, containscandidate images d51 to d54 indicating template candidates and anoriginal template creating entry field d55. The candidate images d52 andd53 show templates in which a printable area on a recording paper sheetas a recording medium is equally divided into subareas and advertisementimages indicated by a plurality of pieces of advertisement data areallocated to the respective associated subareas. The candidate image d54shows a template in which a printable area on a recording paper sheet isdivided into subareas having sizes set for individual pieces ofadvertisement data and advertisement images indicated by the pluralityof pieces of advertisement data are allocated to the respectiveassociated subareas.

When a template specifying a plurality of pieces of advertisement datais set by the above acceptance, a data management section 203 to bedescribed hereinafter determines print data for use in generating imagesfor printing in the layout based on the set template, according to theapplicable order set to the pieces of advertisement data when acquiredand stored on the HDD 92.

When during display of the template acceptance screen D5 the operatoroperates the mouse pointer to point the cursor to, among radio buttonsfor the candidate images d51 to d54, a radio button for a candidateimage indicating a template formed of a desired layout and enter aninstruction to specify the candidate image by left click or the like,the template corresponding to the specified candidate image is acceptedas the template for use in generating images for printing by thetemplate specification acceptance section 103.

Alternatively, when the operator points the cursor to an x-directionplacement position entry field d551 in the original template creatingentry field d55 with the mouse pointer, enters a desired numerical valuespecifying a placement start position in the x-direction in theprintable area through the keyboard, then points the cursor to ay-direction placement position entry field d552 with the mouse pointer,and enters a desired numerical value specifying a placement startposition in the y-direction in the printable area through the keyboard,the location of an advertisement image in the printable area isspecified.

Furthermore, when the operator points the cursor to a placement areawidth entry field d553 with the mouse pointer, enters a desirednumerical value specifying a distance in the x-direction (width) in thearea for printing an advertisement image through the keyboard, andenters, into a placement area height entry field d554, a desirednumerical value specifying a distance in the y-direction (height) in thearea for printing an advertisement image through the keyboard, thedimensions of the area for printing an advertisement image is specified.Thus, the print image can be enlarged or reduced to a size having thespecified dimensions.

When in this manner the operator enters desired values into the entryfields d551 to d554 in the original template creating entry field d55, atemplate formed of an original layout is accepted by the templatespecification acceptance section 103.

When the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as the operatingsection 13 to complete the specification of a template by the operationsfor the entry fields d51 to d55 on the template acceptance screen D5 andthen specifies a “NEXT” button B5 with the mouse pointer, the acceptanceof the template is confirmed by the template specification acceptancesection 103 (S6).

After the acceptance of the template, the display control section 101allows the display 14 to display, for example, an applicable timingacceptance screen D6 shown as an example in FIG. 10 (S7).

This applicable timing acceptance screen D6 is a screen through whichthe timing specification acceptance section 104 accepts thespecification of an applicable timing to replace advertisement data foruse in generating an image or images for printing according to thetemplate with another advertisement data and apply the new advertisementdata. The applicable timing refers to the timing to replace an image orimages for printing generated according to a template in the abovemanner with another or other images for printing and apply the otherimage or images for printing as that or those for printing by the imageforming section 120.

This applicable timing acceptance screen D6, as shown in FIG. 10,contains an applicable timing entry field d61. When during display ofthe applicable timing acceptance screen D6 the operator operates themouse pointer to point the cursor to a radio button for aunit-number-of-jobs switching entry field d611 in the applicable timingentry field d61 with the mouse pointer, it is specified that theapplicable timing is at every end of a job. Alternatively, when thecursor is pointed to a unit-number-of-prints entry field d612 by themouse pointer and a numerical value indicating a number of prints isentered into the entry field d612 through the keyboard, it is specifiedthat the applicable timing is at every end of printing of the number ofprints indicated by the entered numerical value.

When the operator operates the mouse pointer serving as the operatingsection 13 to complete the entry of an applicable timing on theapplicable timing acceptance screen D6 and advertisement data and thenspecifies a “NEXT” button B6 with the mouse pointer, the acceptance ofthe entered switch timing and advertisement data is confirmed by thetiming specification acceptance section 104 (S8).

Then, the application creating section 105 sets the accepted dataacquisition method, template, and applicable timing to the programingtool stored in the tool storage section 106 to create the communicationapplication (S9). In other words, the application creating section 105uses the above programing tool to create a communication applicationcapable of receiving advertisement data from the advertisement deliveryserver 3 by the accepted data acquisition method, generating an image orimages for printing using the template accepted by the templatespecification acceptance section 103, and replacing advertisement datafor use in generating an image or images for printing with the acceptedapplicable timing.

In this embodiment, for the setting of the data acquisition method whenthe image forming apparatus 2 receives advertisement data via a networkfrom the advertisement delivery server 3, the processing of layout inprinting the received advertisement data, and the management of theapplicable timing, the operator can create a communication programhaving these functions based on the programing tool simply by enteringthe setting items in the manner described above. Thus, in developing acommunication application, a developer is not required to have anytechnical know-how necessary for implementing a program for acommunication module for communication with the advertisement deliveryserver 3, processing of layout based on a template, and data managementof the applicable timing and so on. Therefore, technical and time burdenon the developer can be reduced, so that a communication applicationcapable of performing setting of the data acquisition method and datamanagement can be more efficiently developed than before.

Generally, in the case where an image forming apparatus prints anadvertisement image on a printed material, for example, on the back sidethereof, based on print data received from a server on a network, asystem achieving this purpose needs to be composed of at least an imageforming apparatus and a delivery server. Therefore, in order toimplement a print service for advertisement images, it is necessary thattwo types of applications for performing data communication andmanagement for the print service are developed, one for each of theimage forming apparatus and the delivery server. Because the applicationfor processing in the delivery server is often developed by a thirdvendor or the like, it is difficult to develop an application that canbe commonly used among a plurality of delivery servers. On the otherhand, it can be considered, as for the image forming apparatus, that anapplication capable of being commonly used among image formingapparatuses of the same model can be developed. On this point,improvement is possible.

In this relation, it is possible to develop a communication applicationfor performing the print service in the above image forming apparatususing the previously described SDK. However, such an SDK for use indeveloping a communication application generally has neither thefunction of setting the method for acquiring print data nor the functionof managing the received print data. Therefore, the developer isrequired to have technical know-how to implement a program for settingof the data acquisition method and data management into thecommunication application, which is a burden in application development.

Unlike the above known technique, in this embodiment, a communicationapplication capable of performing the function of setting the dataacquisition method in acquiring print data from a print data providingdevice and the function of managing the acquired print data can bedeveloped more efficiently than before.

Next, a description will be given of processing for data communicationand data management based on the communication application created inthe above manner. As described above, the communication application iscreated variously depending upon the data acquisition method, thetemplate, and the applicable timing specified by the operator.

First, a description will be given of the configuration of the imageforming apparatus 2 on which the communication application is to beinstalled. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an electricalconfiguration of the image forming apparatus 2.

The created communication application is installed on the image formingapparatus 2. The image forming apparatus 2 includes a control unit 20,an operating section 47, a document feed section 6, a document readingsection 5, an image memory 32, an image forming section 120, a fixingsection 130, a network interface section 91, an HDD 92, and so on.

The document reading section (data acquisition section) 5 is under thecontrol of the control unit 20 and includes a reader including alighting part, a CCD sensor, and so on. The document reading section 5is configured to read an image from an original document by irradiatingthe document with light from the lighting part and receiving thereflected light on the CCD sensor.

The image memory 32 provides an area for temporarily storing data ofimage of the original document read by the document reading section 5and temporarily storing data to be printed by the image forming section120.

The network interface section 91 is formed of a communication module,such as a LAN board, and configured to connect via the Internetconnected thereto to a server providing a data storage service on theWeb or a server providing an API on the Web and perform datacommunication with the server.

The HDD 92 is a large storage device capable of storing document imagesread by the document reading section 5 or like images. The communicationapplication is installed on this HDD 92.

A coin vendor 80 is configured to accept users' insertion of notes orcoins as a fee charged to users for data communication with theadvertisement delivery server 3 on the image forming apparatus 2 totemporarily store or collect the money. The coin vendor 80 operatesunder the control of a control section 200.

The control unit 20 is composed of a CPU (central processing unit), aRAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and so on and governs theoverall operation of the image forming apparatus 2. The control unit 20includes the control section 200, a display control section 201, a dataacquisition section 202, and a data management section 203.

The control section 200 is connected to the operating section 47, thedocument feed section 6, the document reading section 5, the imagememory 32, the image forming section 120, the fixing section 130, thenetwork interface section 91, the HDD 92, and so on and configured tocontrol these sections.

The communication application is stored on the HDD 92 or in the ROM. Thecontrol unit 20 operates according to the communication application tofunction as the control section 200, the display control section 201,the data acquisition section 202, and the data management section 203.The control unit 20 may not operate according to the communicationapplication, but alternatively may include as hardware circuits thecontrol section 200, the display control section 201, the dataacquisition 202, and the data management section 203.

The display control section 201 is configured to allow a display 473 todisplay various operating screens used for operations in performingcommunication and printing based on the communication application.

The data acquisition section 202 is configured to perform variouscontrols necessary for communication based on the communicationapplication to establish data communication with the advertisementdelivery server 3 and acquire advertisement data from the advertisementdelivery server 3 by the data acquisition method set for thecommunication application in the previously described manner.

The data management section 203 allows the HDD 92 to hold advertisementdata acquired by the data acquisition section 202 and is configured touse the advertisement data to generate an image or images for printingaccording the template set in the previously described manner and outputthe generated image or images for printing as data for printing to theimage forming section 120. The data management section 203 is furtherconfigured to change print data for use in generating an image or imagesfor printing according to the template, with the previously describedapplicable timing set for the communication application.

Next, a description will be given of data communication and datamanagement performed on the image forming apparatus 2 based on thecommunication application created in the above manner. FIG. 12 is aflowchart showing processing for data communication and data managementperformed by the image forming apparatus 2 based on the communicationapplication.

When an operator operates the operating section 47 on the image formingapparatus 2 to enter an instruction to run the communicationapplication, the control section 200 runs the communication application(S101).

Then, the data acquisition section 202 acquires advertisement data andvarious accompanying pieces of information from the advertisementdelivery server 3 (S102). The number of pieces of advertisement dataacquired by the image forming apparatus 2 is not limited to one and maybe plural. The description in this embodiment will be given by taking,as an example, the case where the image forming apparatus 2 acquires aplurality of pieces of advertisement data.

For example, when the previously described data acquisition method (A)(1) or (A) (2) is set for the communication application, the dataacquisition section 202 waits for advertisement data to be sent from theadvertisement delivery server 3. When advertisement data is sent fromthe advertisement delivery server 3, the data acquisition section 202receives the advertisement data through the network interface section91.

On the other hand, when the previously described data acquisition method(A) (3) is set for the communication application, the data acquisitionsection 202 waits for a USB memory containing advertisement data storedtherein to be connected to the external memory interface 93. When theUSB memory is connected to the external memory interface 93, the dataacquisition 202 reads advertisement data through the external memoryinterface 93 from the USB memory.

Alternatively, when the previously described data acquisition method (B)is set for the communication application, the data acquisition 202measures the advent of the time to receive data set to the communicationapplication with a timer or the like contained in the control unit 20.When determining that the time to receive data has come, the dataacquisition section 202 connects through the network interface section91 to the advertisement delivery server 3 and acquires advertisementdata from the advertisement delivery server 3.

The advertisement delivery server 3 sends, in addition to theadvertisement data, various pieces of accompanying information,including an advertisement ID and a validity period which are formed ofa property name or a format. In acquiring the advertisement data, thedata acquisition section 202 receives the advertisement data and thesepieces of accompanying information. On the other hand, the USB memoryholds these pieces of accompanying information. When communicating withthe USB memory to read advertisement data from the USB memory, the dataacquisition section 202 reads the pieces of accompanying informationtogether with the advertisement data.

The data acquisition section 202 stores the acquired or readadvertisement data and pieces of accompanying information on the HDD 92(S103).

When a plurality of pieces of advertisement data are sequentiallyacquired by the image forming apparatus 2, the data management section203 uses, upon acquisition of every piece of advertisement data, thepiece of advertisement data to generate an image for printing and allowsthe HDD 92 to store the generated image. When the plurality of pieces ofadvertisement data have been stored on the HDD 92 in the above manner,the data management section 203 sets, for example, the order of storageof the pieces of advertisement data on the HDD 92 as the applicableorder to printing of them.

After acquisition of the pieces of advertisement data and pieces ofaccompanying information, the data management section 203 analyses thevalidity period contained in the received pieces of accompanyinginformation on each piece of advertisement data and determines whetherthe present time has reached the start time of the validity period andis within the validity period (S104). If the data management section 203determines that the present time is within the validity period for thepiece of advertisement data (YES in S104), it generates an image forprinting using the piece of advertisement data determined to be withinthe validity period according to the template set for the communicationapplication and allows the HDD 92 to store the generated image (S105).

For example, if the template is a template according to which an imagefor printing is generated using a single piece of advertisement data,the data management section 203 sequentially uses the stored pieces ofadvertisement data in the previously described applicable order with theapplicable timings to be described hereinafter to generate images forprinting. On the other hand, if the template is a template according towhich a set of images for printing are generated using a given number ofpieces of advertisement data, the data management section 203 uses, fromamong stored pieces of advertisement data, the given number of pieces ofadvertisement data sequentially in the previously described applicableorder with the applicable timings to be described hereinafter togenerate images for printing.

The data management section 203 applies the generated image or imagesfor printing as print data to be printed by the image forming section120 to a printed matter, for example, to the back side of the printedmatter on the front side of which another image is printed or copied onthe image forming apparatus 2 (the side of the printed matter oppositeto the principal image forming side thereof).

After the generation of images for printing, the data management section203 determines, for the stored images for printing (images for printinggenerated using pieces of advertisement data received from theadvertisement delivery server 3), whether the applicable timing set forthe communication application, i.e., the timing to replace a piece orpieces of advertisement data for use in generating an image or imagesfor printing according to the template with another or other pieces ofadvertisement data, has come (S106). For example, if the applicabletiming is set at every end of a print job, the data management section203 determines whether or not a job has completed. If the applicabletiming is set at every end of printing of a set number of prints, thedata management section 203 determines whether or not the printing ofthe set number of prints has been completed.

If the data management section 203 determines that the applicable timinghas come (YES in S106), it replaces a piece or pieces of advertisementdata having been used in generating an image or images for printingaccording to the template with another or other pieces of advertisementdata being within a validity period (S107).

Next, the data management section 203 determines, with reference to thepresent time, whether the stored pieces of advertisement data containone or more pieces of advertisement data beyond the validity period(S108). If the data management section 203 determines that there are oneor more pieces of advertisement data beyond the validity period (YES inS108), it deletes the piece or pieces of advertisement data beyond thevalidity period from the HDD 92 (S109). After the deletion or if in S108the data management section determines that there is no piece ofadvertisement data beyond the validity period (NO in S108), theprocessing ends. In the image forming apparatus 2, the processing stepsfrom S102 to S109 are repeated until the exit of the communicationapplication.

The present disclosure is not limited to the configuration of the aboveembodiment and can be modified in various ways. For example, althoughthe description in the above embodiment has been given by taking animage forming apparatus as one embodiment of the present disclosure, theimage forming apparatus is merely illustrative and any other type ofelectronic apparatus, such as a printer, a copier or a facsimilemachine, may be used.

The structure and processing shown in the above embodiment withreference to FIGS. 1 to 12 are merely illustrative of the presentdisclosure and not intended to limit the present disclosure to the aboveparticular structure and processing. For example, the applicationcreating program capable of creating a communication application may becontained in the advertisement delivery server 3 and the communicationapplication may be able to be created by the advertisement deliveryserver 3.

Various modifications and alterations of this disclosure will beapparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scopeand spirit of this disclosure, and it should be understood that thisdisclosure is not limited to the illustrative embodiments set forthherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus configured tocreate a communication application capable of allowing a client terminalto acquire print data from a print data providing device and allowingthe client terminal to manage the acquired print data, the informationprocessing apparatus comprising: a tool storage section storing apredetermined programing tool having a function of communication withthe print data providing device and a function of management of theprint data acquired from the print data providing device; an acquisitionmethod acceptance section configured to accept setting of a dataacquisition method for acquiring the print data from the print dataproviding device; a template specification acceptance section holding aplurality of templates indicating different layouts for the print dataand configured to accept specification of a template for use in printingthe print data from among the plurality of templates; and an applicationcreating section configured to use the programing tool stored in thetool storage section to create the communication application allowingacquisition of the print data from the print data providing deviceaccording to the accepted data acquisition method and generation of animage using the print data according to the template accepted by thetemplate specification acceptance section.
 2. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a timingspecification acceptance section configured to accept specification ofan applicable timing to replace the print data for use in the printingwith an alternative print data and apply the alternative print data,wherein the application creating section is further configured to usethe programing tool to create the communication application capable ofreplacing the print data with the alternative print data with theapplicable timing accepted by the timing specification acceptancesection.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the template specification acceptance section holds the templatein which a printable area on a recording medium is divided into equalsubareas and respective print images of a plurality of pieces of theprint data are allocated to the respective associated subareas dividedfrom the printable area.
 4. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the template specification acceptancesection holds the template in which a printable area on a recordingmedium is divided into subareas having sizes set for a plurality ofindividual pieces of the print data and respective print images of theplurality of pieces of the print data are allocated to the respectiveassociated subareas divided from the printable area.
 5. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the templatespecification acceptance section holds a template according to which aset of print images are generated using a plurality of pieces of theprint data, and when the template specification acceptance sectionaccepts the template according to which the set of print images aregenerated using the plurality of pieces of the print data, theapplication creating section uses the programing tool to create thecommunication application capable of replacing the plurality of piecesof the print data with other pieces of print data with the applicabletiming accepted by the timing specification acceptance section.
 6. Acomputer-readable non-transitory recording medium with an applicationcreating program capable of creating a communication application storedthereon, the application creating program being configured to create thecommunication application capable of allowing a client terminal toacquire print data from a print data providing device and allowing theclient terminal to manage the acquired print data, the applicationcreating program being further configured to allow a computer to operateas: a tool storage section storing a predetermined programing toolhaving a function of communication with the print data providing deviceand a function of management of the print data acquired from the printdata providing device; an acquisition method acceptance sectionconfigured to accept setting of a data acquisition method for acquiringthe print data from the print data providing device; a templatespecification acceptance section holding a plurality of templatesindicating different layouts for the print data and configured to acceptspecification of a template for use in printing the print data fromamong the plurality of templates; and an application creating sectionconfigured to use the programing tool stored in the tool storage sectionto create the communication application allowing acquisition of theprint data from the print data providing device according to theaccepted data acquisition method and generation of an image using theprint data according to the template accepted by the templatespecification acceptance section.
 7. A programing tool incorporated intoand functioning as part of a communication application capable ofallowing a client terminal to acquire print data from a print dataproviding device and manage the acquired print data, the programing toolthus allowing the client terminal to operate as: a data acquisitionsection allowing the client terminal to perform data communication withthe print data providing device and acquire the print data from theprint data providing device by a specified data acquisition method; anda data management section holding the acquired print data and configuredto use the print data to generate an image for printing according apredetermined template and output the generated image for printing asdata for printing to a printing section.